G/SPS/GEN/1747  
 
14 November 2019  
(19-7749) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
 
FLOOR STATEMENTS  
NOVEMBER 2019 WTO SP S COMMITTEE - FORMAL  MEETING  
AGENDA ITEM 2(A)(IV) : APEC IMPORT MRL GUID ELINE FOR PESTICIDES  – A GUIDELINE ON 
POSSIBLE APPROACHES TO ACHIEVE ALIGNMENT  OF INTERNATIONAL MR LS 
Communication from the United States of America  
The follow ing communication, received on 12 November  2019, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of  the United States of America . 
 
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1.  We thank Australia for bringing the APEC Import MRL Guideline to the Committee 's attention. We 
would also like to express our warm appreciation to Chile for hosting APEC in 2019, and to 
congratulate and welcome Malaysia as the host of APEC in 2020.  
2.  The sharing of this document is timely, particularly in light of the week 's excellent thema tic 
session on approval procedures, as it provides a practical framework for developing science -based 
import MRLs.  
3.  The APEC Import MRL Guideline for Pesticides seeks to provide a framework within which science -
based standards for import MRLs can be develop ed and applied uniformly and transparently across 
APEC economies.  
4.  MRL harmonization efforts are important to the United States, and initiatives within APEC to 
promote greater alignment of import MRLs have played a key role in shaping and moving these 
efforts forward in the United States.  
5.  Even though the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) already has a process in place for 
reviewing and establishing import MRLs, the APEC Guideline inspired EPA to initiate a pilot project 
to test a streamlined data revi ew strategy for import MRLs.  
6.  The pilot project aimed to determine the feasibility of acceptance of reviews of residue chemistry 
data conducted by other national authorities or by JMPR to support a safety finding by EPA and 
establishment of an import MRL. I n the pilot program, EPA accepted evaluations conducted by Brazil, 
the European Food Safety Authority, Japan, and JMPR in its reviews.  
7.  We are pleased to share that the results of the pilot have been highly positive, especially for EPA 
evaluators, who have found significant time savings compared to the standard process. While EPA 
still conducts a national dietary risk assessment, it estimates that approximately 50 hours have been 
saved per MRL by utilizing other regulatory authorities ' reviews of residue che mistry data.  
8.  In addition, through this process, EPA has set 14 new import MRLs for priority exports of 
US trading partners in APEC – including import MRLs to facilitate exports of tea, hops, cereals, cocoa, 
coffee and ginseng to the United States.  G/SPS/GEN/1747  
 
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  9.  EPA is c ontinuing the pilot on additional crop/chemical combinations and intends to use the 
results to determine how the streamlined data review process might become a standard operating 
procedure in the future.  
10.  We find that resources like the APEC Import MRL Guid eline can play a constructive role in 
strengthening implementation of the SPS Agreement, by enabling Members to develop and apply 
uniform and transparent science -based standards to protect health and facilitate trade.  
11.  In this regard, we would like to recog nize the APEC Food Safety Cooperation Forum for its work 
to prevent and resolve MRL -related trade issues, and we look forward to continued work on MRLs in 
2020 with Malaysia as host.  
12.  Chair, we appreciate the discussions in this Committee on actions to impr ove transparency and 
support greater shared understanding of concerns raised in Committee. We will therefore submit 
this statement to the Secretariat and request its issuance as a GEN document.  
 
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